Into the Heart" Chapters 11-15
by Gigi
Summary: see description for previous chapters


Since I haven't been very good about updating this story here, if you'd like to receive the chapters sooner, [Click Here][1] to join the mailing list for my fanfics.

##  "Someone Else's Star"  
Chapter 11 

Eve opened the doors to the balcony one cold night in late December. The wind rushed in and rustled her robe as she stood there. She hadn't left her apartment in two days. The last place she'd gone was to Scott's; she had been there to celebrate Serena's birthday. It should have been a happy day for everyone there. Eve had put on a happy face and laughed and talked the whole evening like nothing was wrong, but that wasn't how she felt inside. 

Inside was a very dark and sad place, a place where Eve went to every year at this time. As she watched Serena and her friends playing at the party, she couldn't help but imagine her daughter in that group of girls. Her baby was ten today. Her baby wasn't a baby anymore. 

Scott had known there was something up with her and had repeatedly asked her what was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. No one, absolutely no one, knew about her daughter. Well, her mother had known and that wasn't by choice. And as much as she loved Scott, she still couldn't tell him. 

She pulled the picture out of the pocket of her robe. A solitary picture was all she had of her daughter. She hadn't even been able to see her baby after her birth, so this picture was the only way for her to remember her as. 

Her bare feet crunched the snow on the balcony as she stepped outside. The cold didn't bother her as she gripped the icy railing. 

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday my dear baby, happy birthday to you," Eve sang eerily. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking up again with clear eyes. 

"Dominique, you'd look over her, wouldn't you?" Eve looked up at Dominique's star. "I know that you never even knew me, there's probably not any point in me asking anything from you. I just don't know what to do. I know it was right for my baby to be adopted, I wasn't ready to be a mother, but I still miss her and I still wonder about her and I worry about her." 

Eve held up the picture of the baby and wiped away a tear as she whispered, "I love you." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Raegan put a file away as Karen approached the nurses' station.

"Dr. Wexler, you have some messages," she said, handing Karen the notes.

Karen smiled and said, "Karen, please, and thanks." 

"So, how are you and the baby?"

"We're doing great, we just had a checkup yesterday and everything's going perfectly."

"Things went pretty routinely with Kaitlyn, all according to schedule, except she was born a week early."

"But she's perfectly healthy, and that's what matters. She's so cute," Karen smiled. "Well, I've got to go check on a patient, I'll see you around."

"Bye."

Raegan worked on finishing filing the charts on the desk.

"Rae," Chris said softly, trying not to startle her as she was absorbed in her work. She turned her head and smiled at him. He could sense that everything wasn't okay with her and pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong?" he said, leading her over to the couch. 

"You always know," she said with a smile, taking his hand. "Nothing really, I was just talking with Karen which of course made me think of Adrian and what we should have had. Nothing new! But, I know, Adrian's gone, I can't have what I could've had with him and our family, that's all gone. But I do have Kaitlyn, and I have you," Raegan ran her hand down his face. 

He caught her hand as it reached his shoulder, "You know you have me." His eyes shone with total commitment. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Someone Else's Star  
Written By: Skip Ewing & Jim Weatherly 

Alone again tonight  
Without someone to love  
The stars are shining bright  
So one more wish goes up  
Oh, I wish I may  
And I wish I with all my might  
For the love I'm dreaming of  
And missing in my life   
You'd think that I could find  
A true love of my own  
It happens all the time  
To people that I know  
Their wishes all come true  
So I've got to believe  
There's still someone out there who  
Is meant for only me   
Chorus:  
I guess I must be wishin'  
On someone else's star  
It seems like someone else  
Keeps gettin' what I'm wishin' for  
Why can't I be as lucky as those other people are  
I guess I must be wishin'  
On someone else's star   
I sit here in the dark  
And stare up at the sky  
But I can't give my heart  
One good reason why  
Everywhere I look  
It's lovers that I see  
Seems like everyone's in love  
With everyone but me   
(Chorus)   
Why can't I be as lucky  
As those other people are  
Oh I guess I must be wishin'  
On someone else's star

##  "If I Don't Stay the Night"  
Chapter 12 

Eve stepped up to the door of the Firehouse. She took a deep breath, taking in the frozen air sharply. Quickly, she knocked at the door. 

Scott jumped up the inside stairs to open the door. "Hey Eve." 

"Hi Scott," she said as he gave her a hug and a small kiss. Scott quickly shut the door so the snow couldn't come in. Flurries had started early that day and showed no sign of stopping. The weather forecast called for extremely heavy snow during the night, near blizzard levels. 

"It sure is cold out there." 

"Well, it is snowing," she grinned. 

"Well, it's warm in here and that's what counts, right?" 

"You bet!" Eve stepped down the stairs after shedding her coat. 

"Serena's over at Lee and Gail's." 

"You told me she wouldn't be here." 

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"So, what do you have planned for tonight?" 

"Dinner's almost ready, then I thought we could just, um, spend some time together, if you'd like that."

"I'd love it!" she said. "Now, what'd you make?" she followed the aromas into the kitchen. 

Scott followed her and showed off each bubbling pot. "Well, some kind of chicken….and some noodley stuff, and some mixed vegetable thing…"

"Looks great!" 

They sat down at the table to eat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Chris sat reading the paper that evening while Raegan was feeding Kaitlyn. There was a knock at the door. 

Chris started to get up, but Raegan stopped him. "I'll get it," she said. "It's probably for me."

Raegan laid Kaitlyn down on her blanket and went to the door. A deliveryman stood there who then gave her a clipboard to sign for the boxes. He brought the boxes into the apartment. Raegan thanked him and gave him a tip before he left. 

"What's in those?" Chris asked. 

"Just some stuff that I had sent up from Texas," Raegan said, tearing at the tape on the first box. "Some of it's things we'd bought for Kaitlyn, most of which she won't even be able to use now since she's grown so much, and others are momentos and other things I've missed. I'd really like to get all of our things sent up here, we've taken up your space for long enough, and it's not like we don't have the money to get a place of our own, we were all ready to buy a house when Kaitlyn was born."

"Rae, you know that you and Kaitlyn are welcome to stay here as long as you want," he said, sitting beside her. "Besides, what would I have to do at three o'clock in the morning without having Miss Night Owl up to keep me company?" 

Raegan put her arm around Chris's shoulders, "I know you'd miss her."

"Not just Kaitlyn," Chris said quietly, sorta to himself.

Raegan gave Chris a hug and told him, "You know even if we did move out, it's not like you'd never see either of us. We do work together and you are one of the very few friends I've made since being back in Port Charles, I certainly wouldn't be a stranger around here." 

"Well, that's good," Chris said, straightening up, trying to forget his last comment. "'Cause I think Kaitlyn's become a little attached to me, and I'm a bit attached to her myself." 

"And to her mother?"

"How could I not be…" Chris muttered.

Raegan didn't say anything.

"Rae, I'm sorry, I'm so stupid, just forget it," Chris said, standing up. 

"No, no, don't be sorry…Chris?" she said, putting her hand on his arm.

He turned around to face her.

"I'd miss you, too," she said, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner, Scott and Eve laid together on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, watching old movies. A huge bowl of popcorn lay half on his lap and half on her as they snuggled. 

"You know, this one is really lame," Eve said, laughing. 

"What do you mean? It's a beautiful love story of two people overcoming the odds."

"Too predictable for me."

"What wouldn't have qualified as predictable to you?"

"Us," she said, leaning over for a kiss.

Scott raised his eyebrows at her comment. 

"Well, who'd of thought? We were about as far apart as to ex-lovers could've been, and we sure did find our way back. Nobody, I mean nobody, thought that when we started seeing each other again that it would last even as long as we have so far! But we proved them wrong," she grinned. 

"We sure did," Scott kissed her again.

"You know what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"Don't I always?" he sat the bowl on the table. 

"Let's take this party upstairs." 

"Exactly," he said, sweeping her up off the couch and practically running to the steps.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Chris lay asleep on the couch with Kaitlyn on his bare chest late that night as Raegan continued to work through the boxes.

She neatly laid out stacks of clothes that Kaitlyn still could wear and more stacks that she's already outgrown, figuring she could give those to Karen if her baby's a girl. 

The next box she pulled over to her was momentos. Right on top was her and Adrian's wedding album. She crossed her legs and sat the book on her lap, slowly opening the front cover. As she flipped through the pages, she was surprised that tears didn't come to her eyes as she remembered some of their happiest times, but she was smiling. She couldn't be sad for the happy times they'd had, even though she knew that her time with Adrian was no more. She had the present, and she was pretty happy with how things were, she had accepted that her life had changed and that she had to go on with it. 

After a while, she put away that box and moved on to another.

Raegan was puzzled by the label on the box. It was addressed to her home in Texas, postmarked from Port Charles. She had never seen this box. From the postmark date, she concluded that it must have arrived at the house after her and Adrian had left last July and the package had not been forwarded to her. 

She tore off the tape and opened the flaps. On top was a letter with her name written simply on the front of the envelope. She opened it and read the letter inside. It was from Lark, and told her that the contents of the box were things she'd taken from their mother's apartment after their mother's death, things that she'd just had in the box since then and thought maybe Raegan would want them, never having looked through them herself. She quickly placed Lark's letter aside and rummaged through the box. One item was another photo album, this one of Raegan growing up, and then pictures of her and Lark when Lark was a baby. She then found a large envelope with school memorabilia that her mother had saved. At the very bottom of the box, Raegan discovered a collection of letters tied together with a ribbon. 

Raegan held the letters up to examine the return address. It was faded, but not unrecognizable. The letters were from Jim Madison, her father, and addressed to her mother. 

Quickly, she untied the bow and opened the first letter. She hardly remembered her father since he'd stopped contacting her mother shortly after Lark was born. The first letter contained pretty general things, he was asking how his little girl was and how she was enjoying her first year of school. She went through the rest of the letters; they all contained about the same thing, sometimes comments on how he was so proud of his little girl, and promising that he'd come to see her soon, but nothing major. Raegan almost didn't look at the last letter, figuring it would be just like the rest of them. She was surprised when it wasn't the same as the others. 

_Dear Suzanne  
I want to thank you eternally for allowing Raegan to come stay with me for the week. She was as perfect as I knew she would be from your letters. She was very polite and well behaved, as good a daughter as I could have ever imagined. I hope that we can have her here again soon, I am sure she will miss the friends she made in her half-sisters. Please write to me soon to tell me more about our daughter.  
Sincerely  
Jim Madison_

"Her half-sisters?" Raegan questioned out loud. She didn't remember this meeting, she must have only been five or so years old. She opened the envelope again to replace the letter when she noticed an old photograph inside it. She took this out and examined the picture. 

In it, she immediately recognized herself as the child in the middle, her hair past her waist. To her left in the picture, there was a girl about the same age as herself, also with dark red hair, this girl's to about her shoulders. And her right, there was another girl, a few years older than Raegan and the other red haired girl, with dark brown, almost black, wavy hair down her back. "Who are these girls?" Raegan thought. She flipped the photo over and read what it said. "Raegan's visit: Shelley, 5, Raegan, 5, Evelyn, 8." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eve lay awake late that night, unable to asleep. She watched Scott's chest rise and fall as she listened to the steady sound of his breathing and the ever-present howl of the wind outside. 

Something had been nagging on her all night, well, for quite a while now, but for some reason, especially this night. Ever since her daughter's birthday. There was so much she didn't know about what went on before and even after her daughter's birth and she needed to know this. She needed to know this now. 

As quietly as possible, she slid out from under Scott's sheet and gathered her clothes, silently putting them on. She felt awful that she hadn't been able to confide any of this in him, but even after all these years, it was still too painful. She took one last look at him before leaving the room.   
  
Eve sneaked past Serena's room, careful not to wake her, then remembering she wasn't even home, and continued down the stairs where she called a cab. It came within fifteen minutes and she went out to it, almost blinded by the swirl of the snow.  
  
"152nd street, please," she told the cabbie.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
If I Don't Stay the Night  
Mindy McCready

There's a warm breeze blowing on the back porch, babe  
Listen close, you'll hear rain  
The whisper in your voice is making me weak  
Your love speaks my name

There are many ways I want to love you  
But only when the time is right  
Will the rain wash our love away  
If I don't stay the night? 

Being here with you this way  
I feel my soul start to break  
Can't you heal the storm outside?  
Well it's nothing like the thunder in my mind

There are many ways I want to love you  
But only when the time is right  
Will the rain wash our love away   
If I don't stay the night?

Only for love I could compromise  
But how would I be in the morning light  
The rain beats harder  
As I close the door and step into the night

If your love is real  
It'll stay  
If I don't stay the night  
  
There's a warm breeze blowing on the back porch, babe  
If your love is real it'll stay 

## INTO THE HEART  
Chapter 13  
"Fancy"

"Miss, are you sure you want to go down here?" the cab driver said as they neared the edge of town. 

"Yes, sir, I have to go home," she said with an eerie tone of voice. 

"There ain't no where out here safe enough to be in this kind of weather, really I shouldn't even be driving ya, we're lucky this old clunker's still treading through the snow as heavy as it's falling." 

"I'm sorry, I know you'd rather be safe at your home." 

"Nah, it's okay, it's my job." 

"How much longer do you think it'll take?" 

"Not too long…I thought you said you had to get home, shouldn't you know how much further?"

"I haven't been back in years, ten years I think."

"Well, then, it's about time you went back, just wish you'd of picked a nicer night to decide to go," the cabbie said, pulling over. "Ok, we're here."

"Thank you," she said, handing him the money. 

Eve stood in front of the dilapidated shack as the cab drove away. She could tell no one was staying there; her mother hadn't even bothered to sell the place once she finally left. The place wasn't fit to house rats, though it surely did. She reached for the handle of the door, ready to make sense of her life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Raegan turned the picture over again in her hands. Shelley, 5, Raegan, 5, Evelyn, 8. She had been racking her brain, trying to remember this time she spent with her father, but she couldn't conjure up any memory of him at all. She had known his name and that he had tried to have contact with her when she was young and that her mother and father had tried their relationship again, resulting in her little sister, but that soon after, he had left and not written ever again. But that was just what her mother had told her; she had no real memories of him. 

She went over to Chris, not wanting to wake him, and took Kaitlyn off his chest where she was still sleeping. She took her daughter into the bedroom and laid her in her crib before returning to the living room. 

"Still awake?" Chris asked, startling her. 

"Shhh, just go back to sleep," she said.

"Too late, I'm awake now." 

"Well, maybe that's a good thing, I found something in one of the boxes." 

Chris propped himself up on his elbow and said, "Oh yeah? What?"

Raegan sat with her legs folded under her next to the couch where he lay and held the picture. "I found this while looking through some letters my dad sent to my mother. The letters were mostly about him asking about me, but then there was one at the bottom of the stack that was different," she said, reaching for that letter. "See, according to this one, it says I went to visit him."

"And that you have half-sisters," he said after looking at the letter quickly.

"Yes, and that," she said. "And in that letter, there was this picture," she held it up for him to see. "I'm the one in the middle. And here on the back," she flipped it over, "it says 'Raegan's visit: Shelley, 5, Raegan, 5, Evelyn, 8.' I don't remember visiting him, I was only 5, but I definitely don't remember these little girls." 

"Wait, let me see that," Chris said. She handed him the photo and he examined it. 

"What?" she asked, seeing how he was looking at it.

Chris shook his head as he looked at the picture. 

"Chris, what?" 

"Rae, you're going to find this really hard to believe, but that's Eve in this picture," he told her. 

"What?!?!" she almost screamed. 

"Think about it, okay? Eve's a few years older than you, in this picture, she's 8 and you're 5. Her real name is Evelyn. Eve has a younger sister, about three years younger than her, and her name is Shelley. Raegan, Eve is your sister." 

"That's crazy! Of all people!" Raegan stood up, waving her arms in the air in frustration. 

Chris just laughed at her. "You know, she really isn't all that bad." 

"She's your best friend, of course YOU like her," she told him. "Geez, I can't believe this, I'm 24 years old and just now find out that I have two more sisters!" 

"Hey, at least two of your sisters are right here in Port Charles, my siblings are spread all over the country, most of them I wouldn't even know how to contact." 

"I'm sorry Chris," she said, sitting back down beside him. "What about Shelley, where does she live? Have you ever met her?" 

"Shelley lives in Texas, actually, kind of funny since that's where you came from. No, I haven't ever met her, but Eve used to talk about her all the time, it seems like I have. She seems a lot more like you than Eve." 

"You must know a lot more about my sisters than I do, Chris, will you tell me about them?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eve opened the door and peered inside. She heard small critters running to hide themselves as she stepped inside as the wind blew the door shut behind her. 

She could tell no one had been in this tiny shack in many, many years. Her mother was right, no one would want this place, not even a vagrant looking for a place for the night. She quickly found a candle left in the drawer and searched for a book of matches in her pocket book. She lit the candle and looked around. 

The place only had three rooms, the kitchen area, and two tiny bedrooms. She went into the bedroom she used to share with Shelley first. She quickly looked around, seeing the ancient posters of 80s bands that Shelley had insisted they put up, even though Eve had no interest in that at all. Nothing had changed at all.

It was her mother's room that she was most interested in going to. She quickly left her old room remembering her mission.

She crossed to her mother's dresser, looking through each drawer, searching for just something that she might have left behind. 

Not finding anything in the dresser, she stood up and looked around the room again. She crossed to the bedside table and opened those drawers. Once again, empty. 

Why did I come here? What did I expect Mom to leave behind? She asked herself, pacing around the room. 

Suddenly, she remembered something. She quickly went back to the nightstand and struggled to turn it around. It stuck to the floor from being there so long, but it eventually yielded. Once Eve had it turned, she saw what she was looking for. The hidden drawer was there just as she remembered. Her mother had always used that as her hiding place for their savings, when they had them. 

Eve flipped up the latch on the drawer and opened it. Hesitantly, she peered inside. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chris sat up and motioned for Raegan to join him on the couch before he started. 

"Your sisters grew up right here in Port Charles. Bad part of town, 152nd Street. Eve and Shelley had to work through high school to keep their family going, they worked at some really bad restaurant down on Dock 17, I think she said. The place is gone now, after all the dock renovations. Anyway, as soon as Eve graduated, first in her class no less, she got out of here. She probably wouldn't have come back if it weren't for Shelley. There was a fire at the place where Shelley worked and Shelley was hurt. Eve had to leave school and come back to work so that Shelley could have surgery to repair her face. Well, what happened, I don't really think it's my place to tell you, but she did get the money and as soon as Shelley was better, she left again and didn't come back till she got the internship here. She made herself who she is; she's a very strong person."

"Yet, her and I just don't get along," Raegan laughed. "We acted like siblings before we even knew we were." 

"Yeah, you two sorta did," he smiled. 

"Now, what about Shelley?" she asked. 

"Like I said, I've never met her. Most that I know about her, I've already told you. From what Eve's told me, I'm pretty sure she left Port Charles not long after finishing high school, also. She went to college in Texas, not sure where, and she settled down there. Their mother followed Shelley down there a few years later and lives with her, I think. Shelley's head of some foundation for underprivileged children down there. That's her second job, she went to school to be a lawyer, but got involved in the foundation before she graduated and now does that. She did graduate, though. She's been pretty successful, too."

"She sounds like a great person."

"From what I've heard from Eve, yeah, she does."

"Thanks, Chris, maybe this will turn out good."

"There's no reason for it not to," he said, hugging her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eve fished the contents of the drawer out. She was surprised that there was actually something in it. 

She spread the papers out on the floor in front of her. There were several letters, some old photographs, plus her mother's journal that Eve had given her for Christmas the year that she went away to college.

She picked this up first.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Fancy  
Reba McEntire

Well I remember it all very well lookin' back  
It was the summer I turned eighteen  
We lived in a one room, rundown shack  
On the outskirts of New Orleans  
We didn't have money for food or rent  
To say the least we were hard pressed  
Then Mama spent every last penny we had  
To buy me a dancin' dress   
  
Mama washed and combed and curled my hair  
And she painted my eyes and lips   
then I stepped into a satin' dancin' dress   
that had a split on the side clean up to my hip  
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good  
Standin' back from the lookin' glass  
There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood  
  
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
  
Mama dabbled a little bit of perfume on my neck  
And she kissed my cheek  
Then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes  
When she started to speak  
She looked at a pitiful shack  
And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath  
She said your Pa's run off and I'm real sick  
And the baby's gonna starve to death   
  
She handed me a heart shaped locket that said  
"To thine own self be true"  
And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl accross  
The toe of my high heeled shoe  
It sounded like somebody else that was talkin'  
Askin' Mama what do I do  
She said be nice to the gentlemen Fancy  
And they'll be nice to you  
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Lord forgive me for what I do,  
but if you want out  
Well it's up to you  
Now don't let me down  
You better start movin' uptown  
  
Well, that was the last time I saw my Ma  
The night I left that rickety shack  
The welfare people came and took the baby  
Mama died and I ain't been back  
  
But the wheels of fate had started to turn  
And for me there was no way out  
And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly  
What my Mama'd been talkin' about   
  
I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow  
That I's gonna be a lady someday  
Though I didn't know when or how  
I couldn't see spending the rest of my life  
With my head hung down in shame  
You know I might have been born just plain white trash  
But Fancy was my name  
  
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down

It wasn't long after that benevolent man  
Took me off the street  
And one week later I was pourin' his tea  
In a five room hotel suite

I charmed a king, congressman  
And an occasional aristocrat  
Then I got me a Georgia mansion  
In an elegant New York townhouse flat  
And I ain't done bad 

Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hippocrates  
That would call me bad  
And criticize Mama for turning me out  
No matter how little we had 

But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'  
For nigh on fifteen years  
I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringin' in my ear 

She said, here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down  
Lord, forgive me for what I do  
But if you want out well it's up to you  
Now don't let me down  
You Mama's gonna help you uptown 

And I guess she did 

##  INTO THE HEART 

Chapter 14 

The Dance 

Eve slowly picked up the journal. She blew the dust off the cover and pulled her coat tighter around her. The wind howled outside whirling through the snow. 

Carefully, she opened the cover. __

October 15, 1989 

Evelyn gave me this when she first left for school, but I hadn't made time to use it, I guess now would be a good time to start. 

I got a call a few days ago saying that she had fallen ill and that I must come to Chicago immediately. When I got here, the doctors told me she was in really bad condition. She hadn't told me she was pregnant. According to the doctors, she's had no prenatal care and the health of her baby's in danger. They'll do more tests to see how the baby is tomorrow. 

I'm praying for Evelyn to be all right. 

October 16, 1989 

They're worried about the baby. They have hooked her up a monitor to check the baby's heart rate and they say it sounds weird. Not their words, but like I understand their language. They were going to do a sonogram but the machine wasn't working right, they'll try again tomorrow. They keep telling me they're taking very good care of the both of them, but I can't help but worry. 

October 17, 1989 

Evelyn's condition hasn't improved. The baby's heartbeat still sounded funny, so they did do the sonogram. I was very surprised at what it showed. The sound wasn't normal because there are two heartbeats; Evelyn is pregnant with twins. This of course alarmed the doctors even more because her health is already so poor. 

Eve looks up, her mind spinning. ''Twins?'' she whispers out loud. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

''What's the call?'' an EMT, Robert, asked Frank as they drove. 

Frank looked at the address, ''Way out in the boonies, the call was placed by a young girl, terribly upset, she said her parents went out to the barn and never came back, her and her sister had been waiting for hours.'' 

''Doesn't sound good for the parents.'' 

''That's what I was thinking.'' 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Scott woke up and rolled over, reaching his arm out to pull Eve close. His arm fell to the bed, as there was nothing beside him. He sat upright and looked around the room. Her clothes, which had been strewn around the room, were gone, as was she. He quickly pulled on some pants and called for her. She didn't answer, so he went out to the hall and called her name again. Still silence. He searched the firehouse and there was no sign of her. The only thing he saw was the phone book open on the table, open to numbers for cab services. 

''Where would she go in the middle of the night?'' he asked himself. ''And in this weather?'' 

Scott grabbed the phone off the wall and dialed. ''Hey, is Karen there?…Could you put her on?'' Scott's eyes were going in all directions as he waited. ''Karen, could you do me a favor?…Serena's at Lee and Gail's, could you get her and keep her there with you and Joe? I have some things I need to do….Yeah, everything's fine….I'm just worried about Eve, she left without saying where she was going and I just need to find her to make sure she's okay….Yeah, I'll keep you posted, thanks Karen, talk to you later, bye.'' 

He grabbed a coat and hastily zipped it up. He looked around the room one last time before opening the door to leave. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Raegan nervously tapped her fingers on the counter. 

''Rae, calm down,'' Chris told her. 

''Sorry, I can't help it. I hated leaving Lark alone with Kaitlyn. What if something happens? She can't go out in this weather.'' 

''She's not alone, she's there with Courtney and Joe and Karen and Neil.'' 

''Weather like this just makes me nervous. Anything can happen in it.'' 

''Well, we're needed in the ER, working will keep your mind off it.'' 

They headed to the elevator. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ __

October 23, 1989 

She still shows no improvement. She hasn't been conscious in days. The doctors say that she has a very advanced case of pneumonia. The babies are okay, for now, but the stress they are causing Evelyn isn't helping her. 

Eve flipped ahead a few pages. __

November 6, 1989 

I wish Shelley were here, she always knows how to make things seem better. I've spent the past two weeks hardly leaving Evelyn's side. It is so sad to see her laying here. 

November 13, 1989 

The doctors keep asking me for permission to take the babies. I can't let them die; she would never forgive me. The doctors said that they might be able to live if they were born now. I don't want to take any chances. 

November 15, 1989 

Evelyn woke up today! After weeks of no progress, her fever came down some and she's awake. I was worried how she'd react to me being here, but she seems relieved that I'm here. 

She asked how her baby is and I tried to explain to her that she's going to have twins, but she's not completely lucid. She was adamant about one thing. She said she can't raise her child and that she wants for the baby to be adopted. She's entrusting me to get this done, I'll start on it as soon as possible. 

Eve skimmed the next few entries; this is what she was looking for, any details on the adoption. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Frank pulled up to an old farmhouse. ''This is it,'' he said. 

He saw the front door of the house slung open and two young girls standing in the opening. Frank and Robert ran up to the house. 

''Hi, I'm Frank, which one of you placed the call?'' he asked. 

''Please, come in,'' one of the girls said, shivering. 

All four went inside the house and closed the door. The girls led Frank and Robert into the living room and sat down on the couch. 

''I called,'' one of the girls said, sniffling, trying to hold back tears. 

''Sweetie, it's ok, now, what's your name?'' he asked, giving her a hug. 

''I'm Becca,'' she said. ''And that's Meredith.'' Meredith tried to wipe away her tears quickly. 

''How old are you, Becca?'' Robert asked. 

''We're ten,'' she answered. 

''Could you tell us what happened?'' Frank asked her. 

Becca told him, ''Well, as you can see, the power's out, we always lose power in big storms like this. Momma and Daddy,'' she started to get upset again. Composing herself, she continued, ''They went out to the barn to get the kerosene heater that's out there. They went out there hours ago, they should've been back a long time ago.'' 

''About what time did they go out?'' 

''The sun was just coming up, so it was about seven this morning.'' 

''We watched them go out. They made it to the barn okay, but when they came back out carrying the heater, the snow on the barn roof shifted and it fell off, right where they were standing,'' Meredith whispered. 

Frank looked at Robert with a worried look. ''We'll go out there and see if we can find your parents, okay? You two just stay put, we'll be right back.'' 

The girls nodded as they huddled together. 

Frank and Robert made their way to the barn seeing no trace of Becca and Meredith's parents. They worked to push the doors open and looked around inside. The barn was empty and still; no one was in there. 

They stood in the threshold of the door and looked back towards the house. 

Robert gasped and pointed. What he saw wasn't good news. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Scott drove slowly to Eve's apartment. The roads were empty. 

He finally arrived and went straight up to her room. He fished his key out of his pocket and opened the door. It was obvious by the silence that she wasn't there, but he still looked around to make sure. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the living room, so he headed into the bedroom. 

Scott stopped in his tracks as he saw what was laid out before him. The box from Eve's closet sat on the bed with its contents strewn around it. He went over to the bed to see what was there. 

''What's this?'' he asked, picking up the photo of the newborn. He turned it over and saw on the back December 16, 1 989. He l ooked even more puzzled. 

Scott went back out of the bedroom and over to the balcony. He pulled open the doors and stepped outside. Scott kicked the snow through the rails and stood looking out over the outskirts of town. 

''What a bad view,'' he thought. ''All those old, dilapidated houses…'' 

Suddenly, it made sense to him; he quickly turned and left the apartment, knowing where Eve was. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Frank and Robert returned to the house. 

Becca and Meredith were waiting there and threw open the door for them. They could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't have good news. 

''They're not okay, are they?'' Becca asked, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. 

Frank bent down to the girls' level and said, ''No, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do.'' 

Becca and Meredith hugged each other and cried as Frank and Robert stood there, unable to do anything to comfort them. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

''You're doing great,'' Chris said, coming up to Raegan, handing her a cup of coffee. 

''It's been a long day.'' 

''This weather tends to cause that.'' 

''Why can't people just stay at home?'' she laughed. 

''Because then we'd be out of a job.'' 

''True, very true,'' she laughed again. ''I wish Eve was here, I really want to get this over with, I need to talk to her.'' 

''She's not due in till late tonight, you know that because you checked as soon as we got here. Raegan, it's waited this many years already, a few more hours won't hurt.'' 

''You're right,'' she said with a smile. 

''Ah, break's up,'' Chris said as some more patients entered the ER. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ __

December 2, 1989 

Wow, in just two weeks so much has happened. Today, along with the representative from the adoption agency, we decided on the family that would adopt Evelyn's children. They're a really nice couple who has had trouble having children of their own. They've been ready to adopt for some time now and were just waiting to welcome a baby into their home. They're excited about having twins. 

December 4, 1989 

Evelyn is steadily worsening. A week ago, after having improved for a while, she stopped progressing. Her fever's shot up again and she hasn't woken up for days. The doctors said if the babies aren't born soon, none of them will make it. The due date still isn't for six weeks. 

December 11, 1989 

They are giving her till the end of the week to make improvement. If she doesn't, then the babies will have to be born. They assured me that they will be okay born at 8 months, but I still worry about them. The babies are surprisingly healthy for how ill Evelyn is. 

December 15, 1989 

It's time, they told me. Evelyn's too sick. The twins will be born tomorrow. 

Eve pulled a blanket close around her and stood up to go lay on the bed. As she curled up, she read the last entry. __

December 16 

I'm just glad it's over. They almost lost Evelyn during the surgery, but the babies are okay. They're beautiful, I wish Evelyn could see them. Their new parents are already falling in love with them, they'll take the twins home in a few days. They named them, beautiful names, Becca Marie and Meredith Leanne. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The Dance   
(Tony Arata)   
Garth Brooks 

Looking back on the memory of   
The dance we shared 'neath the stars above   
For a moment all the world was right   
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye 

And now I'm glad I didn't know   
The way it all would end the way it all would go   
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain   
But I'd of had to miss the dance 

Holding you I held everything   
For a moment wasn't I a king   
But if I'd only known how the king would fall   
Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all 

And now I'm glad I didn't know   
The way it all would end the way it all would go   
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain   
But I'd of had to miss the dance 

Yes my life is better left to chance   
I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance 

# 

INTO THE HEART   
Chapter 15   
"The Maker Said Take Her"

Scott drove slowly down the worsening streets. Many of the small buildings were nearly covered in drifts of snow. He clenched the small piece of paper with the address on it in his hand as he gripped the steering wheel. 

When his phone rang, he picked it up. 

"Hello? Eve?" he asked. 

"No, sorry, it's me, Karen," she said. 

"Oh, sorry Karen." 

"I guess you still haven't found her?" 

"No, but I'm going somewhere I think she might be, it's just slow getting there." 

"Oh, well…Joe and I have been called to the hospital, Julie and Courtney took Christina and Neil over to Julie and Frank's place, and Frank's out on a call, Lark's here, but Kaitlyn's been fussy all day so she's keeping her busy, do you want me to leave Serena here or take her somewhere else?" 

"Could you take her to the hospital with you guys? If Eve isn't where I'm going, I can pick her up there in about an hour." 

"Ok, Scott." 

"Thanks Karen." 

"Be careful." 

"You, too, drive safely." 

"Bye." 

"See you later." 

Scott clicked off the phone and threw it in the seat next to him. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Raegan handed Chris another cup of coffee. 

"You know, I can't survive on these alone," he said, taking a drink of it. 

"It might hold you over till things finally calm down in here." 

"What I need is to go home." 

"We've both been on nearly 24 hours." 

"I'm sure Kaitlyn misses her Mommy." 

"And her Chris." 

"Her Chris? Does she own me or something?" 

Raegan laughed. "Yea, pretty much!" 

"Dr. Ramsey! Nurse McAndrews! We need you in trauma one," they heard shouted from the doors. 

"28 year old male, severe head and chest injuries from car crash," they were told as they entered the room. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Scott still struggled to make it through the deepening snow. He thought back to how things had gotten to here. He thought of all the little bits of contact he and Eve had had right before and after Lucy and Kevin's wedding. He laughed when he thought of that night at the movie theatre. And the night out on the terrace, he knew things were for real that night. Dominique had told him two years ago that he needed to move on and to love someone else. This was it. 

He looked down at the slip of paper with the address on it. Almost there, he thought. 

Finally he arrived at the small house on 152nd street. He slowly rolled to a stop and put the truck in park. 

Scott trampled through the knee-deep snow to the door. He knocked, but there was no answer. 

"Eve!" he called. "Eve, are you in there?" 

Still nothing. He kicked some of the snow from in front of the door and tried the handle. It stuck at first from the snow being frozen to it, but it didn't take much for him to push it open. 

"Eve?" he called again. He looked around the room he had come into, not seeing any sign that anyone had been in there recently. The place was pure filth. Scott entered the front bedroom, which he also found empty. 

"Eve! Are you here?" he yelled. 

As he turned the knob to the second bedroom, he heard a faint sound. 

"Scott?" Eve shivered. 

"Eve!" he threw the door open and rushed to her side. "Eve, are you alright?" 

He could see she was shaking from the cold. Scott unzipped his jacket and wrapped it around her. 

"I-I'm c-cold," she struggled to say. 

Without another word, he picked her up and headed back out to the truck. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Raegan eyed the monitor. "Chris, we're losing him. Do something!" 

"Rae, I'm doing everything I can. Clear!" 

Raegan watched the man's body jerk as the paddles were placed on his chest. 

"Nothing," she reported. 

"One more time. Clear!" Chris said. 

Raegan still watched the monitor. "Again, Chris." 

Chris just shook his head, looking up at the clock. "Time of death 8:33:56." 

Raegan grabbed Chris's hand, "You can't give up." 

"It's over, Rae, he was gone before he got here," he said, shedding his gloves and throwing them in the trash can. 

"That's it? That guy's got a wife and son out there waiting for you to go tell them everything's going to be okay." 

"Yeah, so now someone's got to go break the news to them." 

"I'll do it," she said. 

"Raegan, are you sure?" he asked. 

She nodded as she went over to the woman and child. Chris watched her as she explained what happened. After a few minutes, she walked back towards him. She didn't look him in the eye as she walked past him. 

"You know, you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for," he said. 

"That has to be the worst part of working in medicine," she said quietly, closing her eyes. 

Chris pulled her in to him and stroked her hair gently. 

"Rae, you've lost patients before, why are you letting this one get to you?" 

"I don't know, Chris. Really, I don't know. It's just lately, I don't know, things have felt weird, what that has to do with this…" 

"It's been six months now since you lost Adrian. You just found out that Eve is your sister. That's a lot." 

"Yea, I guess so," she said. 

"Hey, Ramsey," Frank called. Chris turned around to see him walk in with two young girls. Frank quickly filled Chris in on what happened with Becca and Meredith's parents. "Could you just check them out?" 

"Yea, of course," he said, keeling down to the girls' height. "Hi, I'm Dr. Ramsey, I'm just going to take the two of you into one of the exam rooms and make sure you're alright, okay?" Becca and Meredith nodded, each taking one of his hands. 

As they walked away, the doors to the ER burst open as Scott came in carrying Eve. 

Chris turned around. He grabbed a gurney and Scott laid Eve on it. 

"Raegan, take these girls to Exam 2," he said. Raegan froze for a second before taking Becca and Meredith away. 

"What's with her?" Scott asked. 

"Later, first, what have you done to Eve now?" Chris asked. 

"I didn't do anything to her, Ramsey. She left my place sometime during the middle of the night and she'd been acting weird lately so I went out looking for her. I found her at the house she used to live in years ago with her mother and sister, in the bad part of town." 

"Her temperature's dangerously low, let's get her in to Exam 4 and get her warmed up," Chris said. 

"Can I do anything?" Scott asked. 

"Put these on her," he said, throwing a pile of blankets at him. "About how long do you think she was out there?" 

"I don't know, she couldn't have left the Firehouse till at least after one this morning. I woke up at about five and noticed she was missing and I found her about a half hour ago." 

Chris just nodded as he took her vitals. 

"Is she okay, Chris?" Scott asked, holding Eve's hand. 

Chris could tell Scott was near tears. "Yeah, she'll be fine," he said after a pause. "Her temperature's already coming up." 

"Thanks." 

"Listen, they need me out there, so if anything changes with Eve, just call for me, a nurse will be by to check on her soon." Chris left the room. 

A little while later, Raegan looked through the window into Eve's room. Scott sat by her bed, holding her hand as she slept. 

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her hand softly. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

''The Maker Said Take Her''   
Alabama, ''In Pictures'' 

I was taught to believe,   
and never to doubt   
That the Man up above   
knows what He's talkin' about. 

So when I heard that voice,   
so loud and clear,   
Speak to my heart   
I knew that she must be near. 

The Maker said ''Take her   
and love her forever,   
Take care of her for life,   
and treat her right.'' 

I never was one   
to listen very well.   
I walked my own way,   
and felt what I felt. 

Further out of touch,   
with the Master Plan,   
But she was like a flight   
to the Promised Land. 

The Maker said ''Take her   
and love her forever,   
Take care of her for life.   
N ever fors ake her.   
Don' t be a heart breaker.''   
The Maker said ''Take her and treat her right,   
Just treat her right.'' 

He placed an angel,   
in the palm of my hand.   
And for once in my life,   
I obeyed his command. 

''I'll take her and love her forever,   
Take care of her for life.   
Never forsake her.   
Won't be a heart breaker.   
The Maker said ''Take her and treat her right,   
Just treat her right.'' 

The Maker said ''Take her,   
and love her forever,   
Take care of her for life.   
Never forsake her.   
Don't be a heart breaker.''   
The Maker said ''Take her and treat her right,   
Just treat her right.'' 

   [1]: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/krisfanfic



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